A typical EAS system in a retail setting may comprise a monitoring system and at least one security tag or marker attached to an article to be protected from unauthorized removal. The monitoring system establishes a surveillance zone in which the presence of security tags and/or markers can be detected. The surveillance zone is usually established at an access point for the controlled area (e.g., adjacent to a retail store entrance and/or exit). If an article enters the surveillance zone with an active security tag and/or marker, then an alarm may be triggered to indicate possible unauthorized removal thereof from the controlled area. In contrast, if an article is authorized for removal from the controlled area, then the security tag and/or marker thereof can be detached therefrom. Consequently, the article can be carried through the surveillance zone without being detected by the monitoring system and/or without triggering the alarm.
Radio Frequency Identification (“RFID”) systems may also be used in a retail setting for inventory management and related security applications. In an RFID system, a reader transmits a Radio Frequency (“RF”) carrier signal to an RFID device. The RFID device responds to the carrier signal with a data signal encoded with information stored by the RFID device. Increasingly, passive RFID labels are used in combination with EAS labels in retail applications.
As is known in the art, security tags for security and/or inventory systems can be constructed in any number of configurations. The desired configuration of the security tag is often dictated by the nature of the article to be protected. For example, EAS and/or RFID labels may be enclosed in a rigid tag housing, which can be secured to the monitored object (e.g., a piece of clothing in a retail store). The rigid housing typically includes a removable pin which is inserted through the fabric and secured in place on the opposite side by a mechanism disposed within the rigid housing. The housing cannot be removed from the clothing without destroying the housing except by using a dedicated removal device.
A typical retail sales transaction occurs at a fixed Point Of Sale (“POS”) station manned by a store sales associate. The store sales associate assists a customer with the checkout process by receiving payment for an item. If the item is associated with an EAS/RFID element, the store sales associate uses the dedicated removal device to remove the security tag from the purchased item.
A retail sales transaction can alternatively be performed using a mobile POS unit. Currently, there is no convenient way to detach a security tag using a mobile POS unit. Options include: the use of a mobile detacher unit in addition to a mobile POS unit; the use of a fixed detacher unit located within the retail store which reduces the mobility of the mobile POS unit; or the use of a fixed detacher unit located at an exit of a retail store which burdens customers with a post-POS task. None of these options is satisfactory for large scale mobile POS adaption in a retail industry.